It is no matter for surprise that no mention should be forthcoming of cramp-rings in the reign of Henry V, most of which was spent beyond the shores of England, and in the propagation rather than in the relief of disease. A passage, however, in the literary remains of Sir John Fortescue[234] taken from a tract entitled _Defensio Iuris Domus Lancastriae_, now to be seen in the Cotton Collection at the British Museum, and referable to the year A.D. 1462, seems to show that the practice had not been allowed to lapse during his memory, which ranged over the reigns of Henry IV, V, and VI. The translated passage runs thus: ‘Many duties likewise are incumbent on the Kings of England in virtue of the kingly office, which are inconsistent with a woman’s nature, and Kings of England are endowed with certain powers by special grace from heaven, wherewith Queens in the same country are not endowed. The Kings of England at their very anointing receive such an infusion of grace from heaven, that by touch of their anointed hands they cleanse and cure those infected with a certain disease, that is commonly called the King’s Evil, though they be pronounced otherwise incurable. Epileptics too, and persons subject to the falling sickness, are cured by means of gold and silver devoutly touched and offered by the sacred anointed hands of the kings of England upon Good Friday, during divine service (according to the ancient custom of the Kings of England); as has been proved by frequent trial of rings, made of the said gold and silver and placed on the fingers of sick persons in many parts of the world. The gift is not bestowed on Queens, as they are not anointed on the hands.’ The passage also brings out the fact that the use of both gold and silver rings had long been customary.